Art of separating metals from matte.



I To all whom it may concern: I

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

ALBION WADHAMS, OF RIYERTON, NEW JERSEY, AND ROBERT C. STANLEY, OF NEW BRIGHTON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO INTERNATIONAL NICKEL COMPANY, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ART OF SEPARATING METALS FROM MATTE.

Be it known that we, ALBION J. WADHAMS,

of Riverton, county of Burlington, and State of New Jersey, and ROBERTO; STANLEY, of

New 'Bri hton, county of Richmond, and

State of lqe w York, have invented an Imrovement in the Art of Separating Metals il'om Matte,"of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of our invention is to provide a cheap and effective means for the separation of cop er, nickel, cobalt and silver from arsenic an other elements with which they are associated in speiss or other 'arsenical matte,- andato separate silver from the copper, cobalt, nickel and iron. The processes eretofore employed for this purpose have been diflicult and to a' large extent wasteful,

but our process reduces the cost' to a very small amount and provides means by which the values are recovered with little orno waste.-

Our invention is ap licable t0 matte containing nickel, coba t, silver and iron,

whether copper is contained therein or not.

' We first eliminate the arsenic from the other metals of the speiss. This we accomplish preferably by roasting the speiss or con centrate in a calcining furnace at a cherry red heat until arsenical fumes cease to be liberated'therefrom, We then take the calcined material, grind it withcarbon referably in the form of .coal .or charcoa, and

roast the mixture in a reducing atmos here,

which reduces the arsenical compoun s into arsenids, andwe then sub'ect the mixtureto an oxidizing roast, whic liberates arsenic fumes. The alternate reduction and oxidation are repeated in this manner until fumes of arsenic cease to be liberated. If this operation is carried to the limit, material which originally contained 35 per cent. arsenic, 16 per cent. nickel, 25 per cent. cobalt, and-10 per cent. iron, will contain about 4 per cent.

We then take this material and.

of arsenic. v grind it in a suitable mill, say to about 80 mesh, and then treat it -th sulfuric acid,

' preferably of about 35- Bsin a lead or copger-lined' vessel and at a boiling temperature.

y this means we dissolve a large proportion of the silver and some of the copper, nickel and cobalt. We then .remove silver from this solution by passing it over copiper shot' or copper sheets, upon which the s ver will Specification oiLetters Patent. Application filed February 1c, 1907. SBfiBINO. 357,719.

Patented Oct. e, 1908.

de'posit by cementing and the silver cement may then be washed, dried and smelted. The solution from which the silver has thus been removed, is neutralized with an alkali, preferably caustic soda, and evaporated, preferably to about 40 B.,-which causes the precipitation of the nickel and cobalt as crystalline sulfates. The crystals are then calcined, and thus brought to the condition of oxids, which we then dissolve in hydrochloric acid, and thesolution is freed from iron by preci itation with lime, leaving a solution whic contains chlorid of copper, mckel and cobalt andalso a small proportion of silver chlorid which is not completely eliminated by the best practice in cementing. The-residual silver is removed from the solution by precipitation with hydrogen sulfid, and: the nicke and cobalt can then be separated by known methods.

' Instead of treating the sulfate solution in the manner above described, it can be taken directly to wooden tanks, the iron oxidized and preciptiated therefrom by the addition of sodium oxychlorid, and the silver then recipitated by means ofhydrogen sulfid. he process can then be continued for the separation of nickel and cobalt by known methods.

We claim: 7 1. The method herein described of separating metals, which consists in removlng arsenic fromspeiss containing cobalt, nickel,

silver and iron, dissolving the material with ,sulfuric acid, and then partially removing silver therefrom; substantially as described. 2. The method herein describedof separating metals, which consists in removmg arsenic from speiss-containing cobalt, nickel, silver and iron, dissolving the material with sulfuric acid, and then partially removing silver therefrom by cementing on a metal; substantially as described.

3. The method herein described of separating metals, which consists in removlng arsenic from, speiss containing cobalt, nickel, silver and iron, dissolving the material with sulfuric acid, then partially removing silver from the solution, preci itating the nickel and cobalt from the solution as sulfates, calcining the sulfates to form oxids, dissolving the oxide in hydrochloric acid, and se arating iron from the solution; substantiailly as described. .7

4. The lnethod'herein described of separatthen separating the residue of silver from the ing metals,which consists in removin arsenic solution; substantially as described from speiss contai-ningcobalh'nicke sulfur In testimony whereof, we have hereunto and'iron, treating the mzlztelllial witltihsulfuric setour hands. i

I '5 vacid dissoving t 0 meta s t erein, on par- Y tiallg removing silver from the solution, precipitatin nickel and cobalt from the solution as su lfates; calcining the sulfates to form Witnesses: oxids, dissolving the oxids in h drochloric GEORGE H. SONNEBORN,

10 acid, separating iron from the so ution, and ANNA E. WALLACE. 

